Shedding is not a malfunction. Hair grows, dies and falls out on a cycle in every dog with hair. What varies is how much, how fast, and whether it comes out in tufts or in individual strands.
You cannot stop it. You can decide whether the hair comes out into a brush or into your carpet.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it helps keep this site free. We only recommend products we would use with our own dogs.
Why dogs shed
Each hair follicle runs through a cycle: growth, transition, rest, and release. In double-coated breeds, large numbers of follicles are synchronised by daylight length, which is why coat blows happen in spring and autumn rather than continuously.
Indoor dogs under artificial light have a less synchronised cycle, which is why many house dogs shed moderately all year instead of dramatically twice a year. Neither pattern is wrong.
Tool matching, which is most of the battle
Double coats — Labrador, German Shepherd, Husky, Corgi, Golden Retriever, Border Collie, Akita. You need something that reaches through the guard hair and pulls out loose undercoat: an undercoat rake or a deshedding blade. A surface brush moves the topcoat around and leaves the dead undercoat exactly where it is.
Short single coats — Whippet, Boxer, Dalmatian, Vizsla, Staffie. A rubber curry mitt. It lifts the short, sharp hairs that weave into upholstery, and doubles as a massage most dogs enjoy.
Curly and wool coats — Poodle, Bichon, doodle crosses. These barely shed at all; the hair stays in the coat. Your problem is matting, not shedding, and the tools are a slicker and a metal comb.
Silky coats — Yorkie, Cavalier, Setter. Pin brush and comb, worked gently, with attention to friction points.
SleekEZ Deshedding Grooming Tool
A wave-patterned blade on a wooden handle that lifts loose coat without cutting. Works on short and medium coats where a rake is too aggressive, and it is one of the few tools that also clears hair off furniture and car seats.
Technique
Most people brush too lightly, in the wrong direction, for too short a time.
- Work in sections. Start at the shoulder, finish an area completely, then move on
- Follow the lie of the coat. Against the grain irritates skin and breaks hair
- Line brush long coats. Part the coat with one hand, brush the exposed line from skin outwards, then move the parting up a centimetre. This is the only way to reach the base of a long coat
- Short sessions, often. Ten minutes three times a week beats an hour once a fortnight
- Stop before your dog does. Ending on a good note keeps grooming tolerable
Bathing helps, in the right way
A bath loosens dead coat, and a thorough dry blows a great deal of it out. For a double-coated dog in full blow, a bath followed by a proper high-velocity dry — which is what a groomer does — removes more undercoat in an hour than a week of brushing.
Two rules: brush out mats before bathing, and dry thoroughly. A damp undercoat is where hot spots begin.
Diet and shedding
Excessive shedding, a dull coat and flaky skin can all be nutritional. The basics:
- A complete and balanced diet appropriate for life stage
- Adequate omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
- Enough protein, which is where coat keratin comes from
Dogs on poor-quality food frequently improve visibly on a better one within six to eight weeks, which is roughly one hair cycle.
Supplements are worth considering when the diet is already good and the coat still is not. Fish oil is the usual first choice, and it takes six weeks to show an effect.
When shedding is a symptom
See a vet if you notice:
- Bald patches or symmetrical hair loss on both flanks
- Shedding with itching, redness, scabs or odour
- Sudden heavy loss outside the usual seasons
- Thin, brittle coat with weight gain, lethargy and heat-seeking — a classic hypothyroid picture
- Hair that comes out easily in clumps with skin visible underneath
Parasites, allergies, thyroid disease, Cushing’s disease, and stress can all change a coat. Hormonal hair loss in particular tends to be symmetrical and non-itchy, which is a useful distinguishing feature.
Managing the house
- Vacuum with a brush-roll designed for pet hair, and do the edges of rooms
- A rubber squeegee or a damp rubber glove pulls hair out of carpet better than most vacuums
- Washable throws on the sofa and in the car
- Change furnace and vacuum filters more often than the manual says
- Brush outside during coat blow, and leave the hair for nesting birds
What not to do
Do not shave a double coat to reduce shedding. It does not reduce the volume of hair produced; it just makes every hair shorter and sharper, so it weaves deeper into fabric. And the coat frequently grows back wrong.
A weekly rake and a monthly bath is a better trade than a permanent change to your dog’s coat.
